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‘Always the Outlaw’: The Potential for Subversion of the Metanarrative in Retellings of Robin Hood

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Abstract

This paper examines six recent retellings of Robin Hood and concentrates on the representation of class, religion and gender in the texts. The question is asked: ‘what values do the texts implicitly or explicitly arm?’ The idea that Robin Hood retellings are systematic of a socially and politically conservative ideology is interrogated by considering moments of possible transgression of the universalistic metanarrative in the texts.

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Authors
  1. Geoffrey Gates
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Additional information

Geoffrey Gates teaches English at the Hills Grammar School in Sydney. His short fiction has been published in such academic journals as: Verandah (Deakin University), Dotlit (The University of Technology Queensland), Vanguard (The University of Queensland), and LINQ (James Cook University). His first novel A Ticket for Perpetual Locomotion was published in 2005 by Interactive Press. He is currently enrolled in a Master of Arts (Creative Writing) at Macquarie University in Sydney.

Stephens and McCallum, Retelling Stories, Framing Culture

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Gates, G. ‘Always the Outlaw’: The Potential for Subversion of the Metanarrative in Retellings of Robin Hood. Child Lit Educ 37, 69–79 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-005-9455-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-005-9455-1

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